This Valentine's Day, we invite you to a 200th birthday party for Frederick Douglass. Although Douglass was born into bondage, and never knew his birthdate, he chose to celebrate every year on February 14. We will commemorate his birthday by creating Black history together.

Douglass Day in 2018

This year we will feature a transcribe-a-thon on the Freedmen's Bureau Papers. We are delighted to co-present Douglass Day with the Smithsonian Transcription Center and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

The event will be streamed online in video. CCP members and NMAAHC/SI staff will be available to talk with you on Facebook and Twitter. We'll get to work in Delaware, Princeton, Washington D.C., and simultaneous events around the country and abroad. Let's preserve the long history of Black activism together!

Douglass Day is a holiday that began around the turn of the 20th century. After the passing of Frederick Douglass in 1895, Black communities across the U.S. gathered to celebrate his birthday every year on February 14th. They celebrated, remembered, and protested against the threat of racial violence and attacks on their civil rights. Douglass Day may have been one of the original inspirations for Black History Month, shaped by Mary Church Terrell and Carter G. Woodson. In 2017, the Colored Conventions Project revived Douglass Day. Over 250 people came together at nine locations across the U.S. to work on Transcribe Minutes. (See the 2017 page.)

The Museum has collaborated with the Smithsonian Transcription Center to transcribe nearly 2 million image files from the Freedmen’s Bureau records. The Transcription Center is a platform where digital volunteers can transcribe and review transcriptions of Smithsonian collections. The Freedmen’s Bureau Transcription Project is the largest crowdsourcing initiative ever sponsored by the Smithsonian.

The Freedmen’s Bureau Transcription Project will allow anyone with internet access to research his or her family’s history online. The Museum began this project in an effort to help African Americans discover their ancestors and help historians better understand the years following the Civil War.

Congress established the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands in 1865 to assist in the reconstruction of the South and to aid formerly enslaved individuals transition to freedom and citizenship. Administered by the War Department, the Bureau followed the department’s war-inspired record-keeping system. These handwritten records include letters, labor contracts, lists of food rations issued, indentures of apprenticeship, marriage and hospital registers and census lists. They provide a unique view into the lives of newly freed individuals and the social conditions of the South after the war.

The Bureau was responsible for providing assistance to four million formerly enslaved individuals and hundreds of thousands of impoverished Southern whites. The Bureau provided food, clothing, medical care, and legal representation; promoted education; helped legalize marriages; and assisted African American soldiers and sailors in securing back pay, enlistment bounties, and pensions. In addition, the Bureau promoted a system of labor contracts to replace the slavery system and tried to settle freedmen and women on abandoned or confiscated land. The Bureau was also responsible for protecting freedmen and women from intimidation and assaults by Southern whites. The Bureau set up offices in major cities in the 15 Southern and border states and the District of Columbia. Under-funded by Congress and opposed by President Andrew Johnson, the Bureau only operated between 1865 and 1872.

Open a Freedmen's Bureau project by clicking on the square images or on "Start Contributing Today."

On the next page, click on the buttons to "Start Transcribing" or "Start Reviewing." If transcribing doesn't appear, you may need to find another Freedmen's Bureau project. To start reviewing, you will need an account.

Participating Locations

To attend the transcribe-a-thon held at any of these locations, please contact the local organizer. All events will happen on February 14th from 12-3 PM Eastern Standard Time, unless otherwise marked.

Hofstra UniversityThe Digital Research CenterAxinn Library, Main Floor LobbyLocal organizer: Keri Crocco Sponsors: The Digital Research Center at Hofstra University, The Axinn Library, The Center for "Race", Culture, and Social Justice

Howard UniversityFeaturing the Smithsonian Transcription Center and staff from the National Museum of African American History and CultureInterdisciplinary Research Building2201 Georgia Avenue NW, Washington, DCTwitter: @HowardUSponsors: Department of English, Howard UniversityLocal organizer: Martha Pitts

Loyola Marymount UniversityDepartment of History 2-5 PM (additional times may be added, depending on demand) University Hall 3442 Local organizer: Elizabeth DrummondTwitter: @LMU_History Facebook: @LMUHistoryDepartment

University of KansasInstitute for Digital Research in the Humanities Watson Library - DH Studio (410A)11am-2 PM (CST) Local organizer:Dhanashree ThoratSponsors: KU Libraries and Institute for Digital Research in the Humanities Twitter: @idrh_ku

University of Maryland, Baltimore CountyAlbin O. Kuhn Library, Rotunda and Room 259Local organizer: Courtney HobsonTwitter: @UMBCHumanities Facebook: Dresher Center for the HumanitiesSponsors: Dresher Center for the Humanities, Albin O. Kuhn Library and Gallery, the Department of History, and the Department of Africana Studies.

University of PennsylvaniaDetails forthcoming. Local organizer: Stewart Varner

University of Puget Sound Feb. 232-5 PMCenter for Writing, Learning, and TeachingHowarth 109Local organizer: Julie ChristophSponsor: Center for Writing, Learning, and Teaching, African American Studies and the Race and Pedagogy Institute

University of Southern MississippiCook Library Room 11011 AM - 2 PMSponsors: Digital Archives Research Group, the Department of English, and the University LibrariesLocal organizer: Joyce Inman

University of TennesseeLocal organizer: Katy Chiles and Matthew SmithUTK English DepartmentTwitter: @DouglassDayUTK